PayPal shares rise as it agrees to $2.2 billion iZettle deal

Ilona-Billington
May 18, 2018 2 min read

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PayPal shares closed higher in the US as the global online payments business agreed to buy Swedish mobile payments business iZettle, for $2.2 billion. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter and will help boost PayPal’s instore reach, just when the online payments market is getting crowded.

PayPal shares ended the US Thursday trading session 1.76% higher at $79.19. The stock is also higher in after-hours activity.

PayPal extends European in-store reach

The all-cash deal will see iZettle co-founder and CEO Jacob de Greer remain in place but reporting to PayPal COO, Bill Ready. The existing iZettle management team is also set to be unchanged by the deal.

iZettle has a strong presence across Europe and Latin America which PayPal will harness to help extend its own brand name and business growth rate.

“I’m pleased to announce that today we signed an agreement to acquire iZettle, the leading small business commerce platform in Europe and Latin America,” PayPal COO Shulman said in a press release.

PayPal’s purchase of iZettle – its largest single investment to-date – comes as PayPal seeks to expand its business abilities. Earlier this year, eBay announced it was replacing PayPal as its default online payment system with Dutch business, Adyen.

Once the deal is finalised, iZettle will give PayPal access to 11 new markets across Europe and Latin America.

iZettle started out as a retailer selling credit card readers that could plug into smartphones and tablets. The iZettle reader takes payments across most devices, card, contactless and Apple and Google pay, too.

And, it now has a complete ecommerce platform allowing the typically small business who use it, to track sales and inventories in-store and on mobile devices.

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